


Better With You

by fembuck



Category: True Blood
Genre: Canon Lesbian Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Femslash, Prison, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-07
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-22 17:36:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/916105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fembuck/pseuds/fembuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pam and Tara share some time together after being locked away in the chamber from Bill’s visions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better With You

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place post episode 6x08

Pam was seated on the cool, white floor of the chamber, her long legs stretched out casually before her as her back rested against the wall.  Her head was tipped back indolently and her eyes were closed.  She looked like she was sleeping, as most of the vampires in the room were, but even though she could feel dawn and The Sleep tugging at her, calling her to rest, she was too anxious to sleep.

Tara was seated almost directly across from her.  Her progeny’s back was also resting against the wall, her head tilted back with her eyes closed.  The only difference between their resting states was that Tara had her outstretched legs crossed at the ankle.  Beside her, Willa rested, her body angled towards Tara, instinctively seeking Tara’s strength and protection, even in sleep. 

 _‘My lil’ baby butch_ ,’ Pam thought to herself, rolling her eyes, even though her lips had curved up just the slightest bit at the thought.  Tara was only a couple weeks older than Willa.  There was virtually no difference between the two babies in terms of speed and strength.  But Willa, and even Jessica, instinctively moved towards Tara when trouble reared its head.  They all might have been relatively the same in terms of their vampire abilities, but Tara was a born fighter.  Tara was and always had been a force to be reckoned with, she was a warrior, and the other two could sense her iron core.  They were drawn to it like moths to a flame. 

Pam’s pretend sleep was interrupted when she felt a flash of some strong emotion from her progeny and then Tara move.  She turned her head to the side and when her eyes snapped open, she was already facing Tara, who had begun to pace restlessly.

“Don’t even think about it,” Pam drawled a few moments later.

She was on her feet, standing in the middle of the room, her voice low and dangerous as she faced Violet.

“She’s annoying me,” Violet stated, looking past Pam to Tara, who had stopped pacing at the sound of her Maker’s voice.

“That’s your problem, honey,” Pam replied, her voice sugary as cola though her eyes remained narrowed and sharp enough to draw blood if one ventured too close.  “Take a step toward her and I’ll end you.”

“What’s it to you?” Violet asked, lifting a dark eyebrow.

“I’ve always had a thing for athletic girls,” Pam said, shrugging.

“She yours?” Violet inquired.

Pam’s eyes lifted towards the ceiling. 

She couldn’t see any cameras but she knew they were there.

“As far as you’re concerned,” Pam stated.

Violet closed her eyes again and leaned her head back against the wall.

“Just keep the bitch quiet and we won’t have a problem.”

Pam’s arm shot out, blocking Tara’s path as the young vampire made a move towards Violet.  Tara pushed against her arm, trying to muscle her way past Pam, but Pam was determined to hold Tara back and strong enough to impose her will.

“Calm down,” Pam murmured, her eyes on Tara though she was listening for movement from Violet.  “I’ll command you,” she mouthed, when Tara continued to look past her with violence in her eyes.

Tara’s venomous gaze focused on Pam then.

“Don’t gimme that look,” Pam told her, unaffected by Tara’s hostile expression – except for the slight shiver of arousal in sent through her.  “You’re being a fuckin’ idiot.”

Tara’s eyes flashed with anger, but the look didn’t last long because Tara knew that Pam was right.  She’d warned Willa what a threat Violet was.  She knew that she didn’t stand a chance in combat against the elder vampire.  Pam’s presence gave her a sense of security she hadn’t had in GenPop1, and she’d acted rashly because of it.  She wasn’t exactly sure when it had happened, but she’d come to know that Pam had her back. 

She shouldn’t have made Pam come to bat for her over something so petty however.  Just because both Pam and Violet had “1’s” stitched on their chests, it didn’t mean that they were evenly matched in a fight.  Pam had a better chance against Violet than anyone else in the room did, but Tara didn’t want to put Pam in unnecessary danger.  She didn’t want her temper to force Pam into a situation where she had to fight.

“Whatever,” Tara muttered, lowering her gaze.

“Hey,” Pam said softly, drawing Tara’s eyes back up to her face.  “Don’t pout.  I’m lookin’ out for you,” Pam whispered, and Tara blinked rapidly a few times before she nodded her head.

Pam was still for a moment after she spoke.  Instinct and reason were waging war inside of her.  Her instinct was to close the small distance between herself and Tara and take her progeny into her arms.  They hadn’t touched since they had been reunited, and Pam wanted to, she wanted to feel the reassuring solidity of Tara’s body in her arms.  But reason told her to continue resisting the urge to touch Tara.  Reason told her that the distance between them was a necessary precaution; that she had to keep the humans from realizing that Tara was hers, because if the humans found out how deeply she and Tara were bonded they would experiment on them and pit them against each other for “scientific” purposes.

“Come ‘ere,” Pam breathed out, giving into her instincts. 

They’d already been separated from the larger group and isolated in a death chamber where Bill had had a vision of them meeting the sun.  Pam figured their situation couldn’t get much worse, so there was no reason to keep Tara at arm’s length.

Tara observed her uncertainly for a moment, as if she thought it might be a trick, but whatever she saw in Pam’s eyes reassured her that the offer was genuine, and Tara stepped into the circle of Pam’s arms and held onto her tightly.

Pam’s eyes fluttered as Tara’s arms wrapped around her and a feeling of peace – that she wasn’t entirely used to or comfortable with – blanketed her as her arms tightened around Tara.  As much as she wanted to fight it, and she _did_ want to fight it, she couldn’t help feeling that at the moment, wrapped up together, they were both exactly where they should be.

“Come sit with me a while,” Pam murmured, her words muffled but understandable as she buried her nose in Tara’s hair.

Tara simply nodded, content to stay with Pam and follow her without complaint for the time being.  She felt better with Pam nearby and even better with Pam’s arms around her, and she didn’t want to give up that feeling of security yet, even if it was mostly an illusion.

“You’re usually smarter than that,” Pam said softly as they settled themselves on the floor again, Tara nestled against her side with her head resting on Pam’s shoulder.  “She’d rip you apart like a chicken wing,” Pam continued as her eyes momentarily cut over to Violet. 

The Level 1 was still sitting with her eyes closed, but Pam knew she wasn’t asleep.

“I know,” Tara sighed.  She was too exhausted to be pissed, and besides which, Pam was right.  Making a move towards Violet had been stupid.  She was just tired, and hungry, and frustrated, and irritable and she’d acted without thinking.  “I’m anxious.  Makes me hostile.”

“Being conscious makes you hostile,” Pam replied without missing a beat, and Tara drew her head back from the blonde’s shoulder so that she could glare at her.

“You make me hostile,” Tara bit out, and Pam’s lips curved up the slightest bit.

“I don’t think hostile is the ‘h’ word you’re lookin’ for, sweetheart,” Pam drawled as she looked down into Tara’s enchantingly dark eyes.

“Pervert,” Tara spat out as she glared up at Pam.

“Takes one to know one,” Pam replied, holding Tara’s gaze unblinkingly.

Tara released an ornery puff of air from her nostrils and rolled her eyes.

“I feel like I’m in elementary school,” she muttered.

“You don’t feel like you’re in elementary school to me,” Pam whispered, shifting her hand from where it was resting on Tara’s hip, down to what she could reach of the younger vampire’s ass, and despite herself Tara smiled and laughed softly.

“It’s probably the lack of blood talkin’, but I think I may have missed you,” Tara sighed, snuggling against Pam’s side once more.

“It’s gotta be the lack of blood.”  Pam’s words were sarcastic, as usual, but her tone was tender and Tara could feel the blonde’s affection for her through their bond.  “When was the last time you ate?” Pam asked a few seconds later.

“That box shit at _Fangtasia_ ,” Tara breathed out tiredly.  Dawn was calling.  She could feel it pulling at her.  “Can’t remember before that.”

Pam released a displeased sound from her throat upon hearing Tara’s answer, even though she’d been expecting Tara to say something like that.  Getting Tara to eat had always been a bitch and a half.  She was like one of those toddlers Midwestern soccer moms complained about who would only eat chicken nuggets.  And she was so goddam self-sacrificing.  Pam knew that Burrell’s fucking storm-troopers had been giving donor rations to the inmates before introducing the tainted TruBlood, so if Tara hadn’t eaten since _Fangtasia,_ it meant that she’d given her rations away, probably to Jessica.

“Feed from me,” Pam breathed out, closing her eyes against the utter sacrificial stupidity Tara brought out in her.  “It’ll take the edge off.”  Tara’s body tensed against Pam’s side and her lips parted, preparing to protest.  “Just do it,” Pam continued before Tara could get going.  “I had my very own livin’ donor before they put me in with the rest of you bitches,” she explained, knowing that Tara wouldn’t bite her without being commanded unless she provided her with a reason to.  “I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” Tara asked, even as her body thrummed with anticipation, the thought of blood momentarily chasing away the tiredness that had started to creep through her body.

“I’m sure,” Pam drawled impatiently.  “Get on with it then go to sleep.”

Tara’s fangs clicked down immediately.  She was too hungry to take issue with Pam being Pam.  Now that she knew there was blood to be had, she needed it.

Pam breathed in sharply as Tara’s fangs punctured her flesh, and then sighed quietly as Tara began to pull from her, sucking slowly and carefully, mindful of Pam despite the blonde’s assurances that she would be fine and the great hunger that gnawed at her insides.

Tara’s hand clutched at Pam’s shirt, fisting the material as her mouth worked against Pam’s neck.  Pam’s eyes closed and she rested her head against the wall indolently once more.  The sensation of Tara sucking at her had ignited a spark of arousal in her, but mostly it made her feel peaceful and calm to have Tara connected to her so intimately.

Pam’s feeling of contentment was disrupted however when she felt eyes on her and angled her head to the side to find Violet watching them.

 _‘That’s a mistake, Level 1,’_ the brunette said, speaking too softly and too quickly for human ears to pick up.  ‘ _You’ll be weaker now.’_

 _‘If you think that, you’ve never been a Maker,’_ Pam replied, her gaze cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.  _‘Tara is mine.  You or anyone else looks at her the wrong way, and I will rip your spine out and eat your heart.  That I guarantee.’_

Violet smiled at Pam and then turned away from her and closed her eyes, effectively ending the conversation between them.  Pam let it be.  She’d gotten the last word in, and she had absolutely fucking desire to talk to Violet more than she already had.

“That’s enough,” Pam murmured, lifting her hand to cup Tara’s jaw. 

She probably could have spared a little more blood, but she didn’t want to risk losing too much with another Level 1 in the room.  She was determined as fuck when it came to protecting Tara, but she couldn’t deny that might was important in a fight and she didn’t want to give Violet a significant physical advantage over her.

Pam stroked Tara’s smooth, cool, flesh gently with her thumb, and then she dug her fingers into Tara’s skin, taking firm hold of her face and forced Tara’s head away from her neck.  “Enough,” Pam repeated when Tara began to struggle, trying to get back at her neck.  “Tara,” she said sharply.

Tara licked her lips, cleaning up the blood smeared on them, and blinked at Pam rapidly.  “Sorry,” she breathed out a few seconds later, shaking her head a little as sense began to come back to her.  “Thank you.”

Pam nodded, and then brushed at the corner of Tara’s lips with her thumb, wiping away a spot of blood that lingered there.

“How do you feel?” Pam asked.

“Better,” Tara replied softly.  “Not great, but better.”

Pam nodded again. 

Her blood was more potent than usual because she’d fed, generously, from a living source the day before, but vampire blood couldn’t sustain another vampire for long.  It was only a temporary fix. 

“Sleep,” Pam breathed out, slipping her arm back around Tara’s waist, securing the hold she had on the younger woman.  “You’ll feel better.”

“You gonna take your own advice?” Tara asked, even though she could feel the effects of dawn pressing on her and she knew that she was going to sleep whether she wanted to or not.  She was too young to fight off The Sleep for more than an hour or so, but she knew that Pam could resist it all day if she wanted to.

“I’ll do what I wanna do,” Pam muttered irritably, irrationally bothered by how well Tara was able to read her.  She had no intention of sleeping, not with Violet in the room, not with Tara weak, not with those motherfuckers watching her every move.  “You do what I tell you.  Now go the fuck to sleep.”

“Rude bitch,” Tara complained as she shifted slightly on the floor, getting more comfortable in Pam’s arms before she closed her eyes.

“Sweet-talker,” Pam murmured, which drew a sleepy smile to Tara’s face that lingered on her lips as Tara finally gave into dawn and fell asleep.

When Tara’s body relaxed and Pam was certain her progeny was asleep, Pam dropped her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, taking a moment to just _be_ , before she had to turn her mind towards formulating a plan to get herself and Tara out of that chamber and then out of the facility before Bill’s vision had a chance to come true.

 

The End


End file.
